The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has successfully disbursed ₦1.023 billion to 7,091 pensioners from the Power and Transport Sectors within the Parastatals Pensions Department (PaPD).
PTAD’s Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Gbenga Ajayi, announced in Abuja on Saturday that the payment covered 39% of the pension arrears accumulated by pensioners from August 2015 to September 2023.
The monthly pension amount for PaPD retirees was derived by computing their pension based on their career details, salary structure, as well as any applicable pension increases.
He also mentioned that the arrears were determined through a PTAD-conducted back-end calculation.
According to Ajayi, PTAD’s investigation unveiled a payroll issue in which 7,091 pensioners in the sector were receiving insufficient payments, underscoring the need for corrective action.
He added that PTAD’s Executive Secretary, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, had noted that the back-end computation was mandatory to ensure that each pensioner earned an accurate pension for fairness, equity and justice.
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) was set up in August 2013, in alignment with the Pension Reform Act (PRA) of 2004, which was superseded by the PRA 2014.
Prior to the enactment of the PRA, government pensions were managed by separate offices, all part of the entirely treasury-funded Defined Benefits Scheme.
Section 42 (1) of the PRA 2014 empowered PTAD to take charge of the administration of several former pension offices. This encompassed the Civil Service Pension Office (CSPO) under the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Police Pension Office (PPO), the Customs, Immigration, and Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO), in addition to the pensions of more than two hundred Treasury Funded Parastatals.
These pensioners were those who had served the Federal Government and retired on or before June 30, 2007, without transitioning to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).